Holiday Hopping!

Happy Holidays! I wanted to share with you a thought about military families at this time of year. How many of you wonder what they do to celebrate the holiday season? Well, it’s pretty much the same things we do.

Hmm, they seem to have it all…

<><>Sacrifices of our military personnel and their families give us peace of mind to enjoy our hearths, homes, and families.

Go ahead and enjoy. They got us covered.

Bless our military men and women and bless the families who miss them…wherever they are.

Ashley Torrington never cared much about Christmas before. But this year she’s having a particularly blue holiday because Marine Special Operations Team member, Nick Turner got under her skin just before he was deployed to Afghanistan. With her neighbors’ precocious daughter Bella volunteering Ashley for a special project at school, and a mysterious white-haired stranger named Estelle in town buying gifts from Ashley’s shop, not to mention the odd assortment of presents Ashley’s been receiving from an anonymous source, she shouldn’t have time to worry about her guy. But when he and his team go missing the week before Christmas, she realizes only a Christmas miracle will reunite them.

Captain Nicholas Turner never backed down from challenges—on the battlefield or in his personal life. But he’d never met a challenge like Ashley, who doesn’t want to be anyone’s “girl back home.” Now he’s on the other side of the world, wanting to be anywhere but in Afghanistan for Christmas. About to embark on one of the most dangerous missions of his life, he needs Ashley to know she’s much more than the girl he’d left behind, and he does plan to come home to her. But in the meantime, a little Christmas magic would be appreciated. Little does he know, he’s about to get his wish.

Ramstein Air Base, Germany, 1900 hours T minus 18 days ’til Christmas

Nick downloaded the pictures Ashley had sent, laughing at the one she’d taken of herself by holding the camera in front of her while she made a goofy, google-eyed face. She probably didn’t realize she had strands of silver tinsel caught in her colorful hair. He looked for a message accompanying the pictures but found none. Maybe he hadn’t heard her right, and she hadn’t told him she loved him, after all.

The contact with Ashley and pictures from home steadied Nick’s world. At least for the time being. She’d been right not to let him finish his when-I-get-back statement. That would only have mucked things up. So, for now…someday would have to be good enough. And someday he’d ask that girl to marry him.

You can win a PDF copy of any two of these G-rated novels plus a $6 coupon code for Astraea Press clean fiction publisher:

Just comment below with an idea of how to show our military personnel and families that we care and you will be entered to win your choice from the five books shown above. Anyone purchasing Operation: Christmas Hearts, who sends me proof of purchase (a copy of your receipt) to wordsprite@gmail.com with “I bought Operation: Christmas Hearts” in the subject line, will automatically receive a PDF copy of one of the above.

23 thoughts on “Holiday Hopping!”

Kay, what a nice idea. A family friend is organizing pen pals for soldiers who don’t have families. I don’t know if this helps them or not, but surely it does. I also like the idea of donating downloads to military for Kindles or laptop or PC reading. Anything to give their minds a few minutes release from the job.

A beautiful post. Thanks so much for reminding us of how indebted we are to our military heroes. Like Caroline, I like the idea of donating Kindle downloads for our soldiers. Then they can choose whatever book will give them the most joy.

Most people don’t realize how much getting little things from strangers mean to those men and women over there. No one should be away from their families this time of year, but in the military sometimes it can’t be helped. They don’t want to be forgotten, and getting a small present like a card or a letter from a complete stranger telling them “Merry Christmas” means more to them then they will ever let on. because they are remembered, and that’s all a Hero ever wants.

As a Military wife, I am blessed on having my husband home for the second year in a row, but not everyone is so lucky to be with their families. Which is why this year my husband and I have adopted 7 Marines and one Wife who is here without their Families. Happy Holidays. Sleep easy knowing there is a Marine and a Soldier on guard duty tonight. ♪♫ “There’s a promise I need you to make, while I’m gone you take care of the love and I’ll deal with the hate… And don’t worry about me, I’ll be alright. Just care for your children and sleep tight, I’ll keep you safe on My watch tonight…”♫♪ (On My Watch Tonight [by] Mike Corrado)

What a lovely post! I have many close friends, as well as family, who serve in the military and its so nice to send our soldiers gifts of any kind that keep their spirits up and remind them of home. Anything to put a smile on their faces!

Hi Kay, Just stopping by to show some love. As a 100% Disabled Army Veteran I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting our men and women in uniform.

Speaking for myself, I would like to say that when you meet a veteran, shake their hand or if they are missing the limb, pat them on the shoulder and say “Thank You for your service”. It means a lot when you say it. Also if you can afford it, donate to the wounded soldier foundation. volunteer at a VA clinic to take a soldier to an appointment to from their homes, check with your local VA – I do believe they even pay for your milage if you volunteer.

If you own a business, give a 10% discount for your veterans, I know here in TX that Home Depot, Lowes, and several restraunts do this. Believe it or not, even though disabled veterans get a government check, they are not all the same amount, their pay is based on what their rank was. So just to give you an idea of what th pay scale is like. An E1 or private only makes 700 or 800 a month, Can you live off that? Sure they can apply for foodstamps ect.. but they will not get it because it is over 200 a month. Messed up right.

Through one of the e book authors, I was able to send care packages to a platoon. I have also supported the USO. I’ve seen the volunteers waiting to welcome our soldiers as they pass through the airport.
I think Ronda’s ideas about supporting the Wounded Warrior Project and helping out the VA is good.

What a wonderful tribute! We do shoebox carepackages that are distributed through a chaplain in specific units at his discretion, donate to a wounded vet group, and write Christmas cards to soldiers. I like the idea of volunteering to drive them to/from doctor appointments.

The best way is to just always be respectful. Thank them for their service & protection. Cards, letters, care packages are great to send to serving personnel. Another thing is by helping their families left behind. A spouse of a military member may need a babysitter so she can go shopping. An elderly parent may need someone to help with chores, etc. These are great services and those serving know that there is support for their families at home.
June M.
manning_j2004 at yahoo dot com

Awesome videos, thanks for sharing! My family does donations whenever we can, one of my sisters drinks lots of coffee so she donates bags of coffee to be sent over, me I’m a tea drinker, so my local tea place will also mail them tea packages 🙂 Happy Holidays to you.

I’m a volunteer member of Operation Paperback & have sent care packages to several service men/women. Items sent include, magazines, print books, audio books & walkman tape players to listen to the audio books on. Operation Paperback also distributes books to the families of deployed soldiers.